The present invention is directed to holders for portable electronic media devices, and in particular, to holders or stands for tablets and smartphones.
There are a variety of portable electronic media devices including, for example, smartphones, handheld gaming devices, tablet computers or tablets, computer monitors, wireless reading devices, personal digital assistants, audio recorders and music players.
The media devices, however, do not have a standard size. For example, the smartphone is much smaller than the tablet. Even portable electronic devices of a particular category (e.g., smartphone only) do not have a standard size. This is true, not only for portable electronic devices that are made by different manufacturers, but also to different models made by the same manufacturer. For example, Apple's iPhone® 2G Smartphone has a different shape than Apple's iPhone® 3G smartphone.
Due to the different shapes and sizes of portable electronic devices, stands for such devices have generally had to be designed for each category of device, or worse, for each individual device. When a consumer purchases a tablet in addition to her smartphone, the consumer has generally been required to purchase a new stand or adaptor (if available) for the larger tablet. Additionally, when a consumer upgrades from one portable electronic device (Apple's iPhone® 2G smartphone) to another portable electronic device (Apple's iPhone® 3G smartphone), the consumer has generally been required to purchase a new stand (if available) for the upgraded device.
Various known stands have been developed to address some of the shortcomings identified above. US Patent Publication No. 2010/0320341 to Baumann et al. and U.S. design application No. D652,045 to Hong, for example, describe various stands that can hold media devices. The described designs, however, tend to be applicable for slight variations within a category of media devices and or require adaptors.
There is still a need to develop a universal holder for portable electronic media devices that accommodates devices of different categories as well as devices within the same category but having different shapes and/or sizes. Additionally, it is desirable for a universal tablet and smartphone holder that does not require device-specific adaptors to hold and secure the media device.